We have just given evidence in a case in which two separate prosecution 'Experts' each independently 'proved' that no notes were found on an iDevice – Contradicting the defendant’s account of events.

Enter 3EF. We examined it and, while no intact notes were recovered, were able to prove from a fragment of recovered data that a number of notes had indeed been created, modified and subsequently deleted - Thus corroborating the defendant's account and introducing reasonable doubt.

The above is just an example - We are regularly able to introduce fresh evidence missed or overlooked by prosecution experts such as in this case, and often we are able to directly disprove prosecution cases leaving no room for the doubt of the defendant’s innocence.

The moral(s) of the story:

1. Don’t trust the prosecution report. Now, I’m not saying they are corrupt, incompetent or anything like that, but they are under a great deal of pressure (bless them) and in many cases simply haven’t the time to devote to perform an in-depth analysis. Huge backlogs, time-constraints and poor training mean that many prosecution analysts simply press the ‘Find Evidence’ button. This in turn leads to a poor understanding of the ‘evidence behind the evidence’.

2. Don't trust the prosecution report. Now I’m not saying they would deliberately cherry-pick SMS messages, pictures or other data from your client’s phone or anything, but it’s not feasible to include them all in a report when there were a few thousand found on the phone, right? Of course they are going to choose the ones that support their case, while potentially leaving out ones that might not, or that might add context that could show them in a different light.

3. Don’t trust the lack of a prosecution report. Now I’m not saying they haven’t the resources, skills or training of a company like 3EF Ltd… (Actually, that’s exactly what I’m saying…) If the prosecution are unable to extract any data from your client’s phone (e.g. it’s non-working, damaged, water damaged, not supported by their forensic software etc) send it to us. We are not constrained by meagre police budgets, if we need a forensic tool, we get it. If we need training, we get it. If we need to run exhaustive tests to understand the ins and outs of a new app, we do it. Simply put - we’re able to get more data from more phones, more of the time.

4. Get your own report. Contact us for free, impartial and confidential advice on 0161 241 9458.